Drivers take to the track in Abu Dhabi

6 November 2012 – Tuesday has marked the start of Young Driver testing in Abu Dhabi, following on from the dramatic events of Sunday. Between nine and five o’clock, six of the Formula 1 teams are in action and running some drivers who could race on the grid next year.

Half of the teams are not present because they have already run tests earlier this season at either Silverstone or Magny-Cours, but Red Bull and McLaren are still amongst those in action from Tuesday to Thursday.

Two drivers on-track today are sons of ex F1 pilots. Kevin Magnussen drives the McLaren this morning to follow in the footsteps of father Jan, while Nicolas Prost’s activities at Lotus are being watched by four-time World Champion Alain.

At Red Bull, rising star António Félix da Costa dominated this season’s Formula Renault 3.5 finale in Barcelona and the Portuguese is expected to be signed as part of the Red Bull/Toro Rosso F1 line-up for 2013.

Better-known faces may be those of McLaren reserve Gary Paffett, who takes over from Magnussen in the afternoon, and Caterham counterpart Giedo van der Garde who is being tipped by some for a race seat promotion. At Toro Rosso, Luiz Razia is in the cockpit after narrowly missing out on this year’s GP2 title to Davide Valsecchi.

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